The trials, tribulations, and elations of a running mother turned triathlete.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Louisville Temple Trip(s)

This week was mostly spent getting into the routine of things. This was Keira's first full week of school, which meant we were pretty tired by the end of the week. We had an event with our Relief Society at the Louisville Temple, as well as a stake Primary activity. It is wonderful to be so close to the temple. We have still been spending time here and there working on home projects. They are getting smaller and cheaper, thankfully, but we still have a few things we need to work on.

On Monday, we got Keira ready for school, and then headed to the gym for a long pool swim, and then some errands. Soren really enjoys getting Keira from the bus. He is pretty is disappointed some mornings when he wakes up and she is already gone.

I did a group ride with the ladies of VO2 in the evening.

On Tuesday, while Keira was at school, Soren and I went to the gym and then to storytime at the mall.

After the mall, we went to Wendell Moore Park/Oldham County Recreation center so that I could sign up for a local mini-tri. It is a shorter than normal sprint, and the same weekend as an Olympic distance tri that is local, as well as a big Rev 3 race at Cedar Point, so I am guessing that there will be more than the fair share of beginners. It also has a pool swim, so that will be new to me. Soren really enjoyed the park that was there, and he actually asked if he could have his birthday there because there was a pavillion, similar to the Novi Sports Park.

When we got back, I got to work on lining up tomorrow's day, including running out to the store to grab some last minute ingredients for some apple muffins.

On Wednesday, Soren and I had a big day while Keira was at school.

Soren and I went for a 6 mile stroller run with our neighbors, Jessica and Shawn. Jessica lives across the street and Shawn lives on the next court. We ran across the railroad tracks to Old La Grange road and back. Soren was very excited about seeing a train. It was very loud! Once we got back from the run, I got cleaned up and then took Soren over to Lisa's house. She is a member of the RS presidency, and had offered to watch children at her home so that sisters could attend a temple session prior to a "back to school" brunch. I went over to the Louisville Temple for an endowment session. It is minutes from our home! Soren had a great time at Lisa's, and was very excited that she has a horse and a Lightning McQueen cart. Then, I followed Lisa over to the brunch. I brought apple cupcakes/muffins with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting from the Martha Stuart cupcake book. They turned out great, and went over really well, especially once I told people that they were iced "muffins" instead of an iced cupcake, which they looked like, but they had a nice apple spice taste. We will make these again for sure! I got home with a little time to spare before getting Keira. It was great to be able to chat and meet more people in our ward.

That evening, Ryan got Keira's curtains put up in her room. The kids were pretty excited about them.

On Thursday, we headed out of the house fairly early to go to the county clerk's office in La Grange, to get a new driver's license. It was fairly uneventful for me, as I had all the paperwork I needed, which was a lot of stuff. Soren was super excited to be in La Grange. It has a cute downtown historic area similar to South Lyon. It didn't quite feel like Northville since it was smaller, but the train went through the town. Soren was thrilled for all the train signals and signs. One didn't go through while we were there, but I am sure we will be back (actually, we have to go back because I couldn't get a plate today without KY insurance) to check it out more.

I did a long treadmill run indoors followed by some abs once we finished up there. Ryan headed home early to get his license, but wasn't able to, due to not having his orginal SS card. That was annoying, so we needed to work on getting one sent.

On Friday, I just didn't really feel like heading to the gym, and Soren didn't either. We went over to the Summit because we had been having issues with a curtain rod for Soren's room. There was a really inexpensive rod up there, and when we took it down, we needed a rod with hardware large enough to cover it up. After our 3rd try, we finally got a rod that worked. We spent a little time walking around there too, and went to a fun outdoor store called Quest.

Once Ryan got home, we went back to the Summit to look at the store as well as wall hangings for the kitchen. We had a low key evening at home after that.

Saturday was a typical busy Saturday. Ryan got up early and went out for a ride. While he was riding, I took Keira and Soren over to the stake Primary activity. It was at the meetinghouse next to the Louisville Temple. Since my new calling is a Primary teacher, I was asked to stay for it. There was a huge turn out, and the children made time capsules to be opened on the day they enter the temple for the first time. They wrote a letter to themselves (which I helped with), and then had a letter either from a parent or the Primary. They had 3 stations, and Soren made it through 2 before he was ready for me to just hang out with him, so I swapped places with someone with his group to stay with him. Both Keira and Soren were excited for the activity, and they each got a block with a picture of the temple on it to display at home, as well as a sack snack. We took a few pictures at the temple before we left, but it was really bright.

I went on a super hot and hilly run once I got back. After I got cleaned up, we headed over to the Summit again for dinner at 5 Guys, and then over to VO2 to look at bike storage solutions. We ended up getting some bike stands for the garage from REI online. We also got some movies on Blu Ray for our new player. Ryan and I watched Limitless once the kids were in bed.

On Sunday, we had a restful morning. Ryan had to go in to work for a few hours, and I made the kids chocolate mint pancakes from a mix I found on clearance. They were pretty filling. Soren didn't like them, but Keira did. We went to church and I taught my Primary class. I was glad that I had the help I did. We came home and watched "The Fox and the Hound", which is out of the vault and one of Ryan's favorites as a child. Soren is still big on wearing a tie to church.

Up for next week, Keira is focusing on colors, and has a specific color to wear to school each day for the next two weeks. The Ironman is next week. I am not competing in it, but hope to check out the finish. I have some Aquaphor teammates as well as TIA friends coming to compete.